Rugby League World Cup: Mike Cooper discusses the togetherness in the England squad as they prepare for a semi-final with Samoa

Shaun Wane’s side overcame Papua New Guinea with a 46-6 victory at the DW Stadium on Saturday afternoon to book their place in the semi-finals.

Cooper states there are still plenty of things to improve on ahead of this weekend’s game with Samoa at the Emirates.

He said: “We were relentless (against PNG), which is everything we stand for as a team. We were tough and hardworking.

“We are so proud to play for our country and I think you can see how much it means to us with our performances.

“This is my first World Cup, so to have the opportunity to do this and be part of this team is special.

“Waney (Shaun Wane) is a great leader, you can see that by how well everyone is playing and how together we are as a team.

“We are confident in our ability, it will be a special occasion going down there (to the Emirates for the semi-final) and we’ll be together in the camp all the way through.

“We can still perform much better as a team. We were a bit sloppy at times in the second half, and even at the back of the first it went away from us.

“We can be a lot better than that, so it’s all about improvements.

“I think everyone can see how much it means to us as a group, we are proud Englishmen and we want to represent the country the best we can.

“Hopefully we’ll get as many people down as possible, and the louder the better because it definitely helps us.

“This is the tightest group I’ve ever seen, in terms of player relationships. There’s 100 percent trust in everyone here, so we are working hard for each other and we’ve got values that we are sticking to.”

Saturday’s semi-final against Samoa will be the second time this tournament the two teams have gone head-to-head.

Their previous outing came in the opening game of the competition in Newcastle, where England produced a shock 60-6 victory.